NIST

The Help America Vote Act legislation gives the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) a key role in achieving nationwide improvements in voting systems. NIST conducts and reports on testing of voting systems and human factor research. The reports will be reviewed by the Commission, which will make recommendations to Congress with regard to types of voting systems tested, voting system vendors, and voting system design.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology will conduct continuing reviews, in cooperation with the Commission and in consultation with the Standards Board and the Board of Advisors, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

NIST's activities under the Help America Vote Act include:

• Networking with the elections community to learn about concerns and issues
• Planning a voting systems testing laboratory accreditation program
• Preparing a voting systems usability and accessibility report that looks at the impact of human factors on the effectiveness of election-related technologies
• Symposiums to foster discussion, collaboration, and consensus on voting reform among members of the elections community
• Technical guidance on implementing election-related technologies
• Improving testing programs and conformity assessment for voting systems
• Enabling pilot studies to facilitate the development of new election technologies
• Fostering the development of voluntary, consensus guidelines with participation from the entire voting standards community

Reporting to the EAC will be the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC), which will make recommendations on voluntary standards and guidelines related to voting machines. NIST will provide technical support to the TGDC, and the NIST Director will serve as its chairman.

Voting Systems Testing

Under the direction of the Election Assistance Commission the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology is responsible for carrying out the testing, certification, decertification, and recertification of voting systems, as required by the Help Americans Vote Act.

NIST conducts an evaluation of independent, non-Federal laboratories and submits a list of laboratories to the EAC. After a vote by the Election Assistance Commission, the Commission publishes a list of accredited laboratories for the testing of voting system hardware and software.

Based on recommendations by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a State may provide for the testing, certification, decertification, or recertification of its voting system hardware and software by the laboratories accredited by the Commission.

In cooperation with the EAC and in consultation with the Standards Board and the Board of Advisors, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology will monitor and review, on an ongoing basis, the performance of the laboratories. The director of NIST will periodically make recommendations with respect to the continuing accreditation of the testing laboratories.